


A new job

by Prisca



Category: Sanctuary (TV), The Faculty (1998)
Genre: M/M, not movie-conform, x-over
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-08
Updated: 2015-03-08
Packaged: 2018-03-16 22:13:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3504647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prisca/pseuds/Prisca
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Casey comes back to Herrington to make an interesting offer</p>
            </blockquote>





	A new job

Zeke could feel his heart beating faster when he pulled into a parking-lot in front of the little diner. It hadn't changed much since he had been here for the last time. Ages ago, the day before Casey had left Herrington to move to Boston. MIT and a new, exciting life were waiting for him. Since then he had avoid it to come here, without Casey this place was not the same.

But now he was back. He had sounded somehow mysterious when he had called him last week and asked if they could meet here. Only a few moments. Zeke took a deep breath, then another one. It was ridiculous, wasn't it, that his heart flattered like that?

He pulled the door open … and almost felt shocked. Laughter, talking and music hit him with full force. The last time he had been here it had been almost empty. Not a place the high-school kids usually did frequent. The reason why they did met here, it was 'their' pub, 'their' booth, the last one on the left side at the window. They needed to be careful, it was an impossible relationship. The King and the Geek. Life would have turned into hell for both of them if anyone would have gotten to know about it.

Nevertheless it had been a wonderful time. First he had felt challenged by Casey, the boy was so cute, so innocent … and so sexy, never before he had been together with someone like him. But then he had crept deeper under his skin than planned. Maybe for the first time in his life he hadn't felt alone because there was someone who accepted him like he was.

But as deep as his feelings for Casey were, he hadn't been ready for the next step. Casey's future plan almost freaked him out. College for both of them, somewhere in New York or Boston, far away from the narrow-mindedness in Ohio. They could share a room, as friends first but maybe they could come out later. In a big city it would be so much easier for them.

Zeke didn't want to hurt him but the only way out seemed to be to quit school, only some weeks before graduation, and to look for a job. A small garage in an outer district of Herrington. Of course Casey had been disappointed, Zeke had noticed tears in his eyes, but the boy fought them back and never talked about the subject again. They continued to hang out together until Casey finally left Herrington, both of them knowing that a long-distance relationship wouldn't work for them.

This was about four years ago. Not a big surprise that Casey didn't come back to Herrington often. He had actually never been very close to his parents, now he enjoyed his new freedom in Boston. Only a few month ago he did graduate at MIT as one of the best and the world was all before him. But he finally decided against a job at one of the big laboratories who wooed him and started to work for an institution named 'Sanctuary'.

Zeke had goggled for it. The results were … strange. Obviously it was a large company, represented all over the world. In the United States they had a location in Michigan, impressive, yes, but the building looked more like a fortress or a castle arisen from the Middle Age, not like a present-day research establishment. Also hard to find out what they were actually working on, only some fragmented, pointless infos. Then Zeke discovered an article on a website, Terra-Mystica.com, which talked about supernatural events at 'The Sanctuary', which could destroy the world. He was not sure if he should laugh … or start to worry. Of course he knew that he shouldn't take this all to serious, but wasn't it specific for Casey that he ended at a company which was linked with such wild speculations?

He had to admit he was curious to find out more. Another reason why he had been happy about Casey's surprising call last week. While Zeke cut his way through the crowded diner now he looked at Casey, who was already waiting for him in their small booth, the dark wooden table, the seating bench with the high back still the same. His hair a bit longer. Large glasses he had never seen at him before, but it made him smile. It seemed to fit to Casey, like the stupid checkered shirts he still preferred to wear and the large chocolate milkshake on the table. Good to know that some things never changed.

Suddenly Casey seemed to notice Zeke's eyes resting on him and looked up. A wide smile spread across his face and Zeke's heart beat faster again. How much had he missed this?

"Hey!"  
Finally he reached the booth and dropped down onto the bench opposite Casey.  
“Quiet a full house today.”

“Yeah, Annie, the waitress, told me it's because of the 'Burger-Competition' they did win last week. Suddenly they are the most famous diner in town.”

Zeke rolled his eyes.  
“Good god!”

Casey chuckled.  
“She is nice. When I told her I'm going to meet an old friend she arranged it that we did get our booth for us alone.”

“What did you do to convince her,” Zeke asked and laughed. Then he didn't hold back any longer and pulled Casey into his arms.  
“It's so good to see you again. I hope your parents don't mind that you don't spent this evening at home.”

Casey's blue eyes sparkled behind his glasses.  
“To be honest, they don't know about this visit. I'm here because of you.”

Oh. But before Zeke could think about the meaning of his words the waitress stopped at there table.  
“There he is, the famous friend,” she said and smiled.  
“So, what can I do for you? I would suggest the Burger with extra cheese and bacon, plus French fries. For dessert our chocolate waffles with cream.”

“Thanks, I'll take that. Without the waffles, please.”

"Oh, but you should try them. I'm sure you won't want to go without them ever again. A good reason to come more often.”

Zeke winked at her.  
“I know a better one," he laughed.  
“No waffles, thank you. But a coffee would be nice.”

“Comes soon.”

The waitress left them alone again and Casey grinned.  
“You're still flirting like a high-school boy. Still available?"

“You know me. I'm picky.”

“Good! So you're not in a serious relationship.”

Hm? Zeke was not sure what to think about this. Was it possible that Casey was thinking about it to come back to Herrington? That he ... wanted him back? Zeke had to admit that he actually liked this idea. He had missed Casey, the only one who had ever been able to sneak deeper into his life. Of course he didn't live like a monk for the last four years, but it had never meant much. With Casey it was different, he just needed to look into his blue eyes and the old familiarity was back. He was not sure if it would be a smart decision, but …

“Are you interested in a job?”

Casey's words tore him out of his thoughts. Zeke blinked confused. A job-offer? This was definitely going into a strange direction.

“What do you mean? A job,” Zeke asked. 

Casey laughed slightly.  
“Just in case you are sick of it to work your ass off in a stupid garage.”

Zeke pulled the face. Not this, please.  
“I like what I'm doing.”

“Yeah, but it's a hobby, Zeke, not a job. You waste your talent and you know that. Quitting school some weeks before graduation was one of the most stupid things you have ever done.”

“I panicked!”

“I know, I did press you too hard back then. All I could think about was a life together with you. I refused to see that you were not ready for this step.”  
Casey paused for a moment before continuing.  
“But things are different now, right? So, can you imagine to move to Michigan?”

Zeke eyed him thoughtfully, not sure if Casey was still talking about the job or about a remake of their relationship.  
“You mean it, don't you? But do you think it's a good idea? We both have changed, Casey, a lot. Maybe ...”

“Oh, don't get it wrong.”  
Casey grinned at him.  
“Not that I would mind, to be honest, I'm still thinking about you. But … one step after the other, okay? We will see where it will go with us.

For the moment I'm here to offer you a job. College is not so important, you have a smart head and you are willing to look over the edge of the plate. That's exactly what we need.

One of the team, James, he's going to merry and his fiance wants him to look for a more ordinary job. Well, I can't blame her. What we are doing sometimes can get … hm, hard to explain ... I guess, for an outsider it's more than just strange. And I'm sure he doesn't even tell her all. When I think about his last trip to Hawaii … it was a really close call, he barely escaped being killed.”

Zeke stared at him skeptical.  
“What the heck is your job about,” he asked.

Casey shrugged.  
“It's not always dangerous like that,” he said airily.  
“Currently I'm working on a really nice project. I developed some kind of simplified sign language to interact with some of the abnormal. Kyla is my favorite, she is smart and funny, she likes it when you swim with her in the pool.”  
He laughed about Zeke's puzzled look.  
“Kyla is a mermaid,” he added.

Zeke huffed slightly.  
“Like Arielle,” he said and it was obvious that he didn't believe a word of it.

“No, actually not. She's not a princess waiting for the human prince. And her life was not always easy. People are stupid, when they can't understand what's going on they take up arms. Dr. Gregory Magnus set up the Sanctuary about hundred years ago to save creatures like her. In the moment we have two-hundred abnormal living in Michigan … about thousand all over the world.”

Zeke smirked.  
“Nice try, Case,” he said.  
“But this story is much too geeky, even for someone like you.”

“Did you believe in Aliens, Zeke, before Mary-Beth?”

As ever when he thought about that night Zeke felt shudders running through his body. Sometimes he still did wake up in the middle of the night, shaking, drenched in sweat and he couldn't get rid of the pictures in his mind. All what did help then was a bottle of Whiskey. As long as he had been together with Casey it hadn't been that worse, he had called him and Casey had always known to find some reassuring words.

“It still feels like a nightmare caused by drugs but I know it was real,” he said with a shaking voice.  
“She was a monster who tried to take over the control of the world. Not a fairy-tale character.”

“It's not that different, you know. Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I had already known about the Sanctuary back then. Maybe it wouldn't have been necessary to kill her. She wasn't that different from some abnormal here on earth. It's understandable that we were scared but maybe we should have tried to get in contact with her first ... to understand her reasons."

“This is bullshit, Casey,” Zeke interrupted him, suddenly feeling angry. He didn't like at all were this did go.  
“What's wrong with you? What did they do to you? Some kind of brainwashing?”

“No need to worry, Zeke, I'm fine.”  
Casey voice was still soft, his smile wide.  
“I know all this is hard to believe. When someone would have told me a story like this I would probably have torn the letter I got from Helen and taken a boring job in a lab. Helen Magnus, Dr. Magnus' daughter, she is the leader of the Sanctuary now. But luckily I was curious and accepted her invitation. Best decision ever.”

His eyes sparkled excited.  
“My life is like a continuous adventure now, you can never know what will happen next. There is so much we still don't know about our world. The abnormal can help us to understand better. But it's based on reciprocity, you know, we offer them a safe place where they can live. The Sanctuary. Most of them have the personal freedom to come and to go like they want. Only sometimes we need to lock them away. But we don't treat them like prisoner, they are not evil, it's just their nature that they can turn into a danger for the world outside.”

He put his arm on Zeke's and squeezed it slightly.  
“I want you to come to Michigan with me. Check it out first before you turn the job down. If you don't like what you see you are free to go back to Herrington, into your oh-so-interesting life and I will never bother you again.”

Zeke tried to sort out his thoughts. With everyone else he just would get up now and leave, the story was much too weird to be true. But it was Casey and Casey had always been different. Geeky, like they used to call him at school. One of the reasons why Zeke did like him. He was no one who trusted others easily but he had put his life into Casey's hands in that night when everything seemed to be lost. He had known it that only a geek would still be able to save the world.

Casey would never betray him, never hurt him, never lie to him. Because Casey loved him. The realization suddenly hit him with full force. And the decision was easy now, because, yes, he wanted a second chance with him. Even if this meant to deal with this strange story he still didn't know what to think about.

“Fine, you've got me, I admit I'm curious now. Let's go to Michigan. But … just to make this clear ...  
He grinned.  
“I won't go swimming in a pool together with a mermaid.”  


**Author's Note:**

> originally posted at my LJ March 2015 in two chapters


End file.
